Finally I am ready to just dig myself out of this rut and start getting my cook-writer hat on again!

New York and New Jersey is the place that I now call home. Now that it’s summer and Farmers’ Market abound on different days of the week, I am blessed with boundless access to bounty that in previous life was pretty hard to come by reasonably.

Today I am going to share with you a dish that I’ve made several times since 2012. I saw Michela Chiappa made it in their BBC Channel 4 “Simply Italian” program back then and was very happy to learn just how easy it is to make your own fresh pasta. Now the cook show is history, but the learning could still and definitely should be put to good use.

I was able to obtain fresh organic bounty of spinach bunch and sage at one of the nearby Farmer’s Market, and once again my Atlas pasta maker is out of storage!

Without further ado, here is Lasagne Verdi with Sage + Walnut Pesto for your enjoyment.

Place the spinach in a medium sized pan with a splash of water and heat on a medium-low heat. Place the lid on top and cook the spinach for 3-5 minutes until wilted. Remove the spinach from the pan and place in a colander, then allow to cool and carefully squeeze all the water out of the spinach. Once the water is all out of the spinach place into a food processor and whizz quickly. If your don’t have a food processor, then finely chop it.

To make the spinach dough, add the flour, 2 eggs and spinach to a large bowl, mixing well to combine all the ingredients. If the dough is too dry add the final egg, yolk first, then white, mixing between additions to ensure all ingredients are well combined and to avoid the dough becoming too wet (I’ve always used 3 eggs whenever I make this). Once the dough has come together transfer to a floured surface and begin kneading with your hands until you have a play-dough texture. If your dough is still crumbly (too dry) add a teaspoon of olive oil. If the dough sticks to your hands (too wet) add a little extra flour. Cover with cling film and rest for 30 minutes. This is the ideal time to make your pesto and béchamel.

To make your pesto: whizz all your ingredients together in a food processor. Ideally you need your paste to be to a consistency that can be spread easily over the pasta. You may need to add more oil to get it to this consistency (I added about ¼ cup of extra virgin olive oil).

To make the béchamel sauce, get a large non-stick saucepan and place on a medium- low heat with the butter. Once melted whisk in the flour to form a paste, then slowly add the milk bit by bit, continuously whisking until thickened. Add your parmesan and season to taste, then put to one side until ready to layer up the lasagne. Don’t worry if your béchamel goes cold.

Once the dough is rested, take tennis ball-sized amounts of the dough and squash it flat with your fingers (remember to keep the rest of your dough covered with the cling film so it doesn’t go dry and crusty). Take your flattened tennis ball-sized piece of dough and push it through the pasta roller on the widest setting. Fold into thirds, then repeat 3 times. Once you have a rough square shape, start working it through the machine, taking it down one setting at a time, until the last but one setting (the maximum on Atlas pasta maker is 7, but I always stop at 6). If your pasta is too sticky, it won’t go through smoothly, so add a little flour to each side before you put it through the roller.

Cut the pasta into strips which will fit your lasagne tray, approximately 30cm in length. Keep your sheets of pasta on a tray on a clean cloth to prevent them sticking.

All of the above can be prepared several hours before making your lasagne. Just remember to keep your strips of fresh pasta laid out individually under plastic wrap so they don’t stick together or dry up.

When you’re ready to cook your lasagne, preheat the oven to 180°C/350 F. Make sure you are using an ovenproof dish (we suggest one that is about 6 cm deep and rectangular in shape) and always start with a layer of béchamel or a layer of pesto at the bottom to stop the pasta burning. Then layer in this order: pasta layer (overlap the strips of pasta by 1cm but try not to let the pasta curl up the sides of the dish. The pieces can be cut to fit), pesto layer (1½ heaped tablespoons), béchamel layer (2 heaped tablespoons), mozzarella layer (scatter 1 handful evenly over the layer) and parmesan layer (1 handful sprinkled evenly over the layer). Repeat the above until you have completed 5 layers.

To garnish the lasagne, brush the sage leaves with some olive oil and arrange on top, then bake the lasagne for 25-30 minutes until the top is golden and bubbling slightly. Leave it stand for about 5-10 minutes before serving.

Michela Chiappa’s tips:

This lasagne can be done with normal plain pasta dough or even dried lasagne sheets if you are in a rush, although the green colour of the pasta does make it extra special. If so, ensure that the béchamel is runnier to give extra moisture to the dish when it is cooked and to make sure it doesn’t dry out

Try and get your pasta strips to be at least the length of your ovenproof dish and about 12cm wide; however this is simply to make your layering easier

The pasta doesn’t need to be very thin – it can be rolled to the second from last setting on the roller, or about 3 playing cards thick.

When you roll your pasta out, you can either store it on trays with a layer of cling film between each layer to stop them sticking, or hang it on coat hangers or a clothes horse. The main aim is not to let the pasta strips touch each other, otherwise they will start sticking and break apart when you try to separate them

We recommend you blanch your pasta in boiling water before layering; to do this, put the individual strip of pasta into boiling water for approximately 30 seconds (this does depends on how thick your pasta is but usually 30 seconds to 1 minute max). It should still have a bite to it but should be softened. Once blanched, dip them into cold water to stop them cooking and spread them on a clean tea-towel to get rid of the excess moisture.

If you have any leftover pesto, put it in a jar and cover it with olive oil to seal it. It will keep in your fridge for months and is great over a plate of pasta.

If you have any left over pasta, cut them into long ‘tagliatelle’ strips, air-dry them for 24 hours, then store in an air-tight container to be used at a later date.

Remember, green pasta doesn’t taste of spinach – the spinach simply dyes the pasta. A great way to get your kids to eat some greens!

Please note that since MyOrangePot’s #Weekly_Canteen is pretty much a one woman-show, there has been adjustments made to this service:

With the lack of (wo)manpower, we no longer provide delivery service, but you are most welcome to pick up your food at MyOrangePot.com HQ in Yoyogi 4-chome (4 minutes walk from Sangubashi station or 30 seconds walk from Yoyogi 3-chome bus stop) between 4:30 – 7:00 pm.

Pick-up address will be informed when your order is confirmed

Alternatively, we will provide a pick-up service at JR Yoyogi Station, between 7:15 – 7:45 pm. We will meet you at the JR Yamanote/Sobu line West gate

Last but not least, due to some pre-arranged travel plans, please be informed that the #Weekly_Canteen will be in service for a limited period of time. Our last service for the first quarter in 2015 is Thursday, February 26.

You are probably wondering where the hell I have been and what precisely I was thinking, since I started a blog and immediately went M.I.A.

The answer to that is… a very eventful 2.5 weeks girly road trip with my sister and our beloved friend to (predominantly) USA West Coast! I promise there will be posts related to it at some later date. USA was wonderful and California particularly was a delightful adventure on the palate.

Now that I’m back and moderately over my jet lag, I can begin plotting kitchen-based invention again. After being away for so long, there is nothing that beats the euphoria of having access to your own kitchen and pantry again.

In fond-memory of some pici-making experience at my Aunt’s place in La Jolla last week, I decided that tonight’s dinner should be a blend of East and West. A fusion pasta, or as I’d like to call it… a “fusionasta”! I am going to combine 3 of my favorite Japanese flavors: prawns, umeboshi (pickled plum), and shiso (Japanese perilla leaves).

Fusionasta: Shrimp-Umeboshi-Shiso Pasta

Ingredients

250 gram of fresh strozzapreti (or dried fusilli should work, too, just a little less superior in flavor)

*If you don’t live in Japan where umeboshi and shiso are aplenty, you can find both at a Japanese supermarket or any Asian store that carry Japanese stuff.

** Furthermore, if honey-kishuu umeboshi is not available, then you can substitute with regular umeboshi. Make sure that you get the soft type and add 2 tbsp of honey to the recipe. This recipe will not work with the crunchy version of umeboshi (that is usually served as beer companion).

Directions

Cook pasta according to package direction

While pasta is cooking, on a cast iron skillet heat up the olive oil on high, once hot turn the heat down to medium

Add the garlic into the olive oil, sauté until fragrant (about 1 minute)

Add shrimp and sauté until shrimp turn color. Careful not to overcook.

Lower the heat further until about half of your stove’s medium setting, then add umeboshi meat and mix well. Let it simmer for about 3 minutes.

Add soy sauce and black pepper to the mix. (If you have to go with the regular umeboshi route as described in **, then this will be the time you add honey in)

Check flavoring and correct seasoning (I very rarely need to do it, but this will largely depend on how salty or how much honey the umeboshi has, as most brands vary). Turn off fire.

By this time if your pasta is cooked, then drain in a colander, put aside, reserve about a ladle of the water used to boil the pasta in.

Add pasta and shiso to the pan, mix well with the sauce. If the sauce felt a little dry, then add a little bit of water at a time to the mix to loosen it.